Almanac

On June 25, 1788, Virginia ratified the U.S. Constitution...

In 1868 the former Confederate states of North and South Carolina, Florida, Alabama and Louisiana were readmitted to the Union (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text).

FOR THE RECORD - This story contains corrected material.An Almanac item in the published story incorrectly included Georgia in a list of states readmitted to the Union in 1868. Georgia was readmitted in 1870.

In 1876 Gen. George Custer and his 7th Cavalry were massacred by Sioux Indians in the Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana.

In 1906 architect Stanford White was shot to death atop the old Madison Square Garden in New York City by Harry Thaw, the husband of actress Evelyn Nesbit, White's mistress.

In 1918 American forces drove German troops out of Belleau Wood, France, after a two-week battle in World War I.

In 1942 the Britain's Royal Air Force staged a 1,000-bomb raid on Bremen, Germany, in World War II.

In 1946 a fire in Chicago's La Salle Hotel killed 61 people.

In 1950 the Korean War began when North Korean troops invaded South Korea.

In 1951 CBS television presented the first commercial color broadcast.

In 1962 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the use of an unofficial, nondenominational prayer in New York state public schools was unconstitutional.

In 1973 White House attorney John Dean told a Senate committee that President Richard Nixon joined in a plot to cover up the Watergate break-in.

In 1976 the Supreme Court ruled that private schools may not exclude children because of their race.

In 1979 Alexander Haig, supreme commander of NATO forces, narrowly escaped an attempt on his life when a bomb exploded on a bridge as he was being driven to work in Belgium.

In 1981, in a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that it would be constitutional for Congress to limit draft registration to men.

In 1983 protesters opposing the deployment of missiles in Europe hurled stones at Vice President George Bush's car during a visit to West Germany.

In 1985 the White House threatened economic sanctions and military reprisals against Lebanon unless the 40 American hostages from a hijacked TWA airliner were released. Also in 1985 an explosion at a fireworks factory near Hallett, Okla., killed 21 employees.

In 1988 American-born Mildred Gillars, known as "Axis Sally" for her Nazi propaganda broadcasts during World War II, died in Columbus, Ohio, at age 87.

In 1993 Kim Campbell was sworn as Canada's 19th prime minister, the first woman to hold the post.